RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians are the indigenous people of this State; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has the largest Pacific Islander population of any state both in real numbers and as a percentage of total population; and

WHEREAS, in 1997, the Office of Management and Budget directed all federal agencies to classify Pacific Islanders as a distinct and separate racial group called "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander"; and

WHEREAS, the United States Census data reflects that Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders are underrepresented in higher education both at the undergraduate and graduate levels; and

WHEREAS, educational attainment is related to greater economic success and personal well-being; and

WHEREAS, greater access to financial aid is strongly related to college enrollment and completion; and

WHEREAS, public and private scholarships and fellowships across the United States are set aside for underrepresented minority students, or give preference to underrepresented minority students in the application process; and

WHEREAS, unlike American Indians, Alaskan Natives, African Americans, and Hispanics, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders are not considered underrepresented by the overwhelming majority of scholarships and fellowships; and

WHEREAS, because these scholarship and fellowship programs do not recognize Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders as underrepresented, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders are barred from applying to many of these programs and denied preference afforded to other underrepresented groups; and

WHEREAS, underrepresented minority scholarships alone - which do not consider Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders as being underrepresented - provide millions of dollars annually in financial aid to those groups whom they consider underrepresented; and

WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders suffer from higher poverty rates and other distressing social and economic conditions, especially in the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has a moral commitment and real stake in the prosperity of Native Hawaiians as well as Other Pacific Islanders; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature recognizes Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders as an underrepresented minority group and urges all scholarships, fellowships, and other academic programs which give preference or limit access to underrepresented minorities to recognize Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders as a distinct and underrepresented minority; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the members of Hawaii's delegation to the Congress of the United States; Executive Committee of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus;

United States Secretary of Education; and Director of the Office of Federal TRIO Programs of the Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education.

Report Title:

Urges all academic programs which limit access or give preference to underrepresented minorities to recognize Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders as a distinct and underrepresented minority group.